42 lines
2.0 KiB
Plaintext
42 lines
2.0 KiB
Plaintext
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#212
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Date: Tue 25 Apr 89 23:52:42
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From: Alfgar Maharg
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To: All
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SEE ALSO #246
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Subj: More on military
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SAN ANTONIO, Texas (AP) -- An Air Force woman who says she is a witch has
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been granted permission to observe her faith's eight holidays, including
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All Hallow's Eve.
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Airman Patricia Hutchins, 21, who says she has been a wiccan, or witch, for
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four years, asked the Air Force to allow her to take time off for
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religious holidays just as it does members of other religions.
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Wiccans generally believe that the sun, moon, Earth and all life are divine
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and are personifications of all creative energy.
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Col. David Engler, chaplain at Lackland Air Force Base, wrote a letter to
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Hutchins' supervising officers at Wilford Hall Medical Center, asking
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that they follow Air Force regulations on religious freedom, Lackland
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spokesman Bob MacNaughton said.
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Air Force regulation 35:53 states: "members of the Air Force are free to
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express religious beliefs in a manner that is consistent and fair to
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all," MacNaughton said.
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Hutchins, a physical therapist at Lackland, said she was surprised by the
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chaplain's expedient help.
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"I have found that chaplains in the Air Force are very open-minded," she
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said. "I was surprised they did it, but I'm very grateful."
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"As far as we're concerned, wicca is not a hostile type of faith,"
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MacNaughton said. "Her being a witch has not presented any problems for
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her in her working place or anywhere else."
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Among the days she'll be allowed to observe are All Hallows Eve, Oct.
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31, and
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days marking the changes of the seasons. Hutchins traces her faith to
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Celtic Ireland.
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Hutchins, daughter of a Protestant minister, said she doesn't know of any
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others in the Air Force who practice witchcraft, including her husband.
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She said colleagues and co-workers haven't shunned her for her beliefs.
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---
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* Origin: Opera=Amorum, BaphoNet-At-Night =*= (718) 499-9277 (Opus 1:107/666)
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